No Bible character except Christ Jesus provides a better example for Christians than the Apostle Paul. From the time of Paul's conversion to Christianity, we can follow his career through the Acts of the Apostles and through his letters, which constitute a major part of the New Testament. That career is full of accounts of triumphs as well as trials, and the faithful Christian often finds that he can identify waymarks in Paul's life with his own.
It is of Paul that the Bible says, "I have fought a good fight, ... I have kept the faith."II Tim. 4:7. The consistency of Paul's Christianity supported him in times of great trial. His faithfulness to the vision he had on the road to Damascus largely explains why he remains an example to Christians today.
Paul's life as a Christian has a special meaning for the Christian Scientist. How is that? one may ask. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, "A Christian Scientist occupies the place at this period of which Jesus spoke to his disciples when he said: 'Ye are the salt of the earth.' 'Ye are the light of the world. . . .'"Science and Health, p. 367. The daily lives of many of us may fall far short of the standard indicated in that statement. Yet Mrs. Eddy's words are true of every student of Christian Science who is striving to make his life an example of the teachings of this Science.
